In 2015, Harvard University’s Graham Allison appropriated the wisdom of the ancients to explain the rivalries of the present. Throughout history, Allison argued, power transitions have led to war. This danger is particularly acute because China will soon be “the biggest player in the history of the world.”7 The task of the coming decades will be managing the rise of a country that is destined to replace America as the world’s leader, without causing a violent cataclysm along the way. That formula, not surprisingly, appeals to Xi Jinping, who has cited the “Thucydides Trap” in calling on
...more
